I have always had a love for the Kerry Blue Terrier.  They are a beautiful looking dog with a temperament and personality to match their looks.  I was first introduced to the breed back in 1980 when Ch. Pharno Special Release ("Ben") was living at the kennels.  I enjoyed looking after him and we decided to import a bitch from England.  We had been told to contact the great Malachy McGeown of the Granemore Kennels.  We decided we would like to purchase Eng. Ch. Granemore Poyntspass ("Lizzie") and after a lot of negotiating with Malachy he agreed to let her come to Australia.  She was an absolute delight to own and was everything I expected of a Kerry Blue.  She was great to trim, she was great to show and she was a delight to live with.  She obtained her Australian Championship with 4 Group wins in a row.  We mated her to Ben and she produced a litter of 4 dog puppies.  We then tried again but unfortunately she did not produce any more puppies.  Before we could go on further we lost her in a terrible thunderstorm which brought the roof of the kennels down and unfortunately she was hit by the falling timbers and killed. 

Eng/Aust. Ch. Granemore Poyntspass ("Lizzie")

After this episode I could not bring myself to get another Kerry for a long time and concentrated on my beautiful Irish Terriers.

In was not until 1989 on another trip to England when we decided that it was time for another Kerry Blue but this time we wanted a male.  We contacted Malachy again and travelled up to see him at his place near Manchester.  He had a beautiful dog called Eng. Ch. Granemore Ballydurrow ("Luke").  I fell in love with him straight away and again after a lot of negotiating with Malachy he decided he would let us buy the dog and take him to Australia.  In late 1989 Luke arrived and I started showing him in 1990.  Again he made his title in four shows with BIG each time.  He became my house dog and my protector as by this time I was living on my own.  No one would come in the house until I had hold of Luke and no one would come near the house whilst Luke was on patrol.  We adored each other but alas one day in 1995 whilst jumping off my louge suit he ruptured 2 discs in his back.  He was paralised in his back legs and whilst the chriopractor and I tried everything and Luke gave it his all it was not to be. 

Eng/Aust. Ch. Granemore Ballydurrow ("Luke")

It was not until 2005 on a visit to Sydney from Perth, and completely unexpected, that I was at the grooming shop where Alayne Hansen was working at the time when she mentioned that she had a Kerry Blue bitch named NZ Ch. Ciarraigorm Iris Is Blue ("Ella") in her back yard.  She was not doing anything with her at the time and during our conversations it came to pass that she wondered if I might be interested in taking her for 6 months and showing her.  I jumped at the chance, bought a crate, booked her flight and took her back to Perth with me.  Again another lovely Kerry.  She was very firey in the ring but she made her mark and in the short time while with me in very stiff competition in WA won a couple of Groups and a Best in Show.  She was returned to Alayne after the 6 months and I believe she is now living with Dean Freshwater in Sydney and producing some lovely puppies.

NZ/Aust. Ch. Ciarraigorm Irish Is Blue ("Ella")

My latest sojourn with Kerry Blue Terriers has been to own and have as my couch potato Ch. Lyntiki Kailin Kallie ("Kallie").  I co-owned her with Neridah Sharrett and together, under the "Sacrebleu" Prefix, we bred her to Grd. Ch. Blueprint Pure Blue (Imp NZ) producing only two babies, a dog and a bitch.  Both have been shown successfully.  The bitch, Sacrebleu Preprint Blue, is owned and has been shown to her title by Barry and Pauline Oliphant of the "Olizure" Kennels and is now herself a mum and the dog, Sacrebleu To Be Sure, is residing in Queensland being owned and shown by Scott and Lynda Craw of "Lyntiki" Kennels who also bred Kallie.  Both Neridah and myself have decided that we are not going to breed Kerries and that Kallie was far to good a dog to be residing on my couch and that it would be a great loss to the breed if she did not go on and have more puppies.  We have therefore sent her down to Elizabeth Rushbrook and Peter Callaghan of "Kilmainhan" Kerry Blues in South Australia where she is presently enjoying living on their couch and looking forward to having more babies.

Ch. Lyntiki Kailin Kallie ("Kallie")

Sacrebleu To Be Sure as a puppy

I fully expect that some day in the future I will once again own and be owned by a lovely Kerry Blue Terrier. 

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